IT might just be mid-August, but Alun Armstrong admits his Darlington side are heading into a run of three games that already have the potential to define their season.

Quakers are one of only two sides in National League North still to claim a point after losing their opening three league matches.

There are mitigating factors – Darlington performed reasonably well against Hereford and Scunthorpe in particular, and all three of their opening opponents are likely to figure in the promotion battle at the end of the campaign – but nevertheless, it is not the start that was envisaged less than a fortnight.

Two of Quakers’ next three games are at home – with matches at Blackwell Meadows against Brackley and South Shields sandwiching a trip to Alfreton – and even at this early stage, Armstrong admits it is imperative his side starts putting points on the board.

“We said to the lads after the game (Tuesday’s 4-0 defeat at Scunthorpe) that there’s three massive games coming up,” said the Darlington boss. “They might define our season, which way we’re going. They’ve got to start putting wins on the board, it’s as simple as that.

“We couldn’t have had a tougher start, to be honest. We’ve had our bogey team at home, Hereford away, which is always a tough place but where we should have got something, and then Scunthorpe away, who will probably be the league winners. I thought we put on a good show, but ended up getting turned over.”

Tuesday’s four-goal margin was somewhat harsh on Quakers, who conceded two goals to hefty deflections as well as superb direct free-kick just before half-time.

“I think the fans could see that the lads were giving everything,” said Armstrong. “You could see the determination, and the effort they were putting in was top drawer. I was gutted for them at half-time and just said, ‘Keep going and you’ll get yourselves back into it’.

“We had a lot more of the ball in the second half, probably down to Scunthorpe dropping off and stopping us from getting in behind, but we were still trying to play that ball when we should probably have been keeping the ball a bit more.”

One positive to emerge from the defeat at Glanford Park was the return of Will Hatfield, who kicked off his second spell as a Darlington player following his move from AFC Fylde earlier in the week.

“We brought Will in and that was the first time he had played with the lads, so there’s still little things to work on,” said Armstrong. “He hadn’t even trained with the lads so it’s difficult, but you want to try to bring that energy and enthusiasm in.

“We know what Will’s got, and it will come back. He hasn’t played for a long time – I think he had one pre-season game about three or four weeks ago, and that wasn’t a proper game as such – so this was his first competitive game all season. It’s just about getting him up to speed, and he’ll be a big plus.”